Right in front of my block there’s the back gate of a primary school. Which means every morning a dozen supply trucks come in quick succession, stop without shutting down the engine to open the gate, then enter. So if I keep the window open for the night it’s guaranteed I wake up to some exceptionally noisy lorry puffing away almost literally an arm’s length from my balcony.

During the day I am forced to listen to the noise reverberated between and amplified by the walls of the school’s gymnasium. They also hold orchestra training sessions there which even penetrates the otherwise quite soundproof window.

And there is the Japanese habit to leave the engine running whenever they stop the car somewhere. In the summer and winter I suspect it’s for the air conditioning to continue, but really they do it all the time. Like a while ago a car stopped right under my window and I was forced to close it after listening to the low rumbling of the engine for a good fifteen minutes.

Magdi told me that once a truck stopped in front of her dorm room and the driver forgot to change the gear, which meant it played the warning message and chimes that most trucks do in reverse in an endless loop for hours on end.

And to think that my agent had the audacity to tell me that the surrounding area is very silent…